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I sometimes make fun of young adult books (like Dunk) for sounding like they were written by a dorky dad creating a cheap facsimile of what high schoolers sound like. Carter Finally Gets It does about as good a job as any teen book I’ve ever read in capturing the voice of teenagers. He remembers that teenagers are lowbrow, profane, loud, and… Read more →

The Golden Compass (my review) was such a singular success that I had to take a break before jumping into the sequel. And that might have been the right choice: The Subtle Knife spends almost its entire first third empty of conflict and plot momentum. But then it picks up, and… man. Talk about an ending. The Subtle Knife didn’t blow me away… Read more →

Dunk is the second book by David Lubar I’ve read after the amusing Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie, and it’s even better than Freshmen. This teen comedy focuses on Chad, who feels disenfranchised because of his aimless future, money woes, and mom who won’t let him get a summer job. He opens his summer by witnessing an inspiring dunk-tank “bozo” on the boardwalk… Read more →